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Space Jam
Space Jam is a 1996 American live-action/animated sports comedy film starring basketball player Michael Jordan and featuring the Looney Tunes cartoon characters. The film was produced by Ivan Reitman, and directed by Joe Pytka, with Tony Cervone and Bruce W. Smith directing the animation. Nigel Miguel was a basketball technical advisor. Released theatrically by Warner Bros. under the Family Entertainment label on November 15, 1996, the film tells a fictional alter-history of what happened between Jordan's initial retirement from the NBA in 1993 and his comeback in 1995, in which he becomes embroiled in events involving Bugs Bunny and his friends. Space Jam opened at No. 1 in the US and grossed over $230 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing basketball film of all-time. Plot: In 1993, professional basketball player Michael Jordan announces his retirement from the sport to follow his lt. father's career as a baseball player. However, it becomes evident that he's not as skilled in baseball as he was in basketball. Jordan is assigned a publicist and assistant, the bumbling Stan Podolak, to make his new career less bumpy. Elsewhere, in outer space, an intergalactic amusement park called Moron Mountain faces dwindling popularity, so its owner, Mr. Swackhammer, sends his diminutive minions, the Nerdlucks, to capture the Looney Tunes as new entertainment. The Looney Tunes live in an animated world hidden in the center of the Earth, but ignore the Nerdlucks' threats and challenge them to a game of basketball. The Nerdlucks steal the talents of professional basketball players Charles Barkley, Shawn Bradley, Patrick Ewing, Larry Johnson and Muggsy Bogues, leaving them incapable of playing. The Nerdlucks absorb the talent, transforming into the gigantic "Monstars" who easily intimidate the Looney Tunes. While playing golf with Bill Murray, Larry Bird and Stan, Jordan is sucked down a hole and is recruited by Bugs Bunny to help the Tunes win against the Monstars. Jordan at first refuses, saying he doesn't play basketball anymore, but changes his decision after he is insulted and humiliated by the Monstars when they call him baldy. He then sends Bugs and Daffy Duck to his house to retrieve his basketball gear. Meanwhile, Stan has been digging out the golf hole to find Jordan, but spots Bugs and Daffy leaping down another one and pursues them, reuniting with Jordan in the Tunes' world and joins the Tune Squad. Another new recruit is Lola Bunny, a skilled basketball player whom Bugs falls in love with. The day of the match arrives, but the first half is dominated by the Monstars, leaving the Looney Tunes unconfident. Stan overhears a conversation between the Monstars and Swackhammer, learning of how they gained their talent and informs Jordan and the Tune Squad. Bugs and Jordan convince the rest of the Tune Squad to fight back and the first quarter of the second half allows the Tunes to catch up using old school gags and Acme weaponry. During a timeout, Jordan raises the stakes of the game with Swackhammer: a win by the Tune Squad would require the Monstars to surrender their stolen talents, while a Monstars win would win Swackhammer Jordan as a new attraction. To ensure his victory, Swackhammer has the Monstars play dirty and injure all of the Tune Squad until only Jordan, Bugs, Daffy, Lola and Stan are left. Stan becomes the fifth player and manages to score, but is literally flattened by the Monstars and is removed from the court to be inflated. The referee, Marvin the Martian, informs Jordan that unless the team gets a fifth player, they will have to forfeit the game, at which point Murray appears and volunteers to be the team's fifth member. In the final seconds of the game, Jordan gains the ball and manages to use cartoon physics to extend his arm and score the winning points. Murray retires from the sport and the Monstars blast Swackhammer to the Moon in a rocket when Jordan makes them realize that they do not have to take his abuse anymore. Jordan convinces them to give up the stolen talents, and the Looney Tunes agree to recruit the reformed Nerdlucks in their ensemble. Jordan and a recovered Stan return to the surface, the Nerdlucks dropping them off at Jordan's next baseball game. Later on, the two visit the incapacitated basketball players and return their talent. The players invite Jordan to a three-on-three match, but when he declines, they question his loss of talent. In 1995, Jordan then returns to the Chicago Bulls to resume his basketball career. Category:Space Jam Category:Movies Category:Films Category:1973 Category:1974 Category:1975 Category:1976 Category:1977 Category:1978 Category:1979 Category:1980 Category:1981 Category:1982 Category:1983 Category:1984 Category:1985 Category:1986 Category:1987 Category:1988 Category:1989 Category:1990 Category:1991 Category:1992 Category:1993 Category:1994 Category:1995 Category:1996 Category:1996 films Category:Films set around 1973-1995